we wake in half tones

I dreamed a horrible dream, that Micah had been killed in a car accident of some sort. Just gut wrenchingly realistic and prolonged. I managed to oversleep an hour after that nightmare. The echo makes me not want to leave the house, and certainly not for work.

tiramisu

My eggless, cobbled together tiramisu recipe.

Brew a double shot of espresso or 1 cup of strong coffee, and set aside to cool. Add 1/3 cup of port wine, rum or brandy. Put this mix in a shallow dish and set aside.

Blend 8 ounces of marscapone with a half cup of fine or powdered sugar. Use a spatula to make it easier. Set aside.

In a chilled mixing bowl, beat 1 pint heavy cream with a dash of vanilla. Feel free to add a dash of coffee liqueur or rum or whatever alcohol you happen to be using. Whip the cream until it forms soft, floaty waves. With the spatula, gently blend the whipped cream and the marscapone together bit by bit.

Take one package of lady finger cookies, about 7 ounces, and find a dish to put all this stuff inside. I used a deep loaf pan. Dip each cookie into your coffee mixture until nicely saturated. Don't dunk the entire cookie at once or leave it too long as it will disintegrate. Line the bottom of your dish with soaked cookies, and then drizzle a sppon or two of the mixture over them. Spread on a generous layer of marscapone cream and sprinkle with cocoa or finely grated chocolate.

Repeat this process until you run out of cookies or room in your dish. Top it off with some fluffy swirls of marscapone cream and more cocoa sprinkles. Let sit in the fridge for a couple hours, or overnight, to allow flavors to meld.

lists

I promised Melynda I would make some kind of list, and since I'm waiting on my chocolate ganache to thicken up I thought I would give it a go.

I haven't really considered what I want for Christmas much at all this year. Things have been too busy. But I suppose if you're truly curious, there is always my Amazon list. It's full of books I haven't gotten to yet, baking pans and far too many anime dvds.

I suppose I would like new pillows, big fluffy ones. Or some nice, super soft sheets in jewel tones. Coffee is always a nice thing. Or grocery money.

Or an Alienware system. That would rock.